The present invention relates to the direct inspection of castings as they emerge from a machine for continuous casting, such an inspection to be carried out under conditions of exposure of heat emanating from the barely solidifying casting.
In the past, visual inspection of a casting by experienced personnel has been the common practice. The same is true with regard to solidified casting ingots; however, other inspection methods of cold ingots involve utilization of ultrasonics, magnetic fields as they are varied by defects, chemical effects, or other metal checks. Not only does the ingot so inspected have to be cold (relatively speaking, the temperature should be lower than approximately 300.degree. C.), but the test piece should be stationary.
German printed patent application No. 29 11 578 discloses a system for optical inspection of a casting, using a supplemental light source and detecting particular reflection features which can be attributed to surface defects.